Row By Row, Connecticut & Massachusetts

After spending the night on the Delaware River, just before entering New York, the hour to leave was early.  After consulting the Google map provided by Row By Row, Elizabeth decided to make stop 2 near Hartford, Connecticut.  About ¾ of a mile off the Interstate in Southington, Connecticut is one of three shops called Close to Home.  They specialize as a sewing center, window treatment, and vacuum store.  Again, friendly staff greeted her and were happy to show off their row.  What looked like a tiny store from the outside turned out to be a large inside space with a nice classroom.  If you lived locally and could take instruction there, it would be a great place to go.  The fabric selection here was nice, again with plenty of new fabrics from which to choose.  This store is also participating in a Connecticut shop hop in the fall and the quilt pattern being given away then makes a spectacular quilt. 

The row at Close to Home included 4 blocks with thread embellished appliques on them, it was festive and kid friendly without being childish.  They sold it as a kit with the option of a separate kit of embroidery threads.

A little over 100 minutes after leaving Close to Home, Elizabeth was in Massachusetts at A Notion to Quilt in Shelburne, MA.  Six miles off the Interstate on the Mohawk Trail (Route 2), a rural and scenic route, was the store.  Wow, they really lived up to their name, it was full of notions, as well as sewing machines and long arms; a class was also going on and there was fabric galore.  They had room after room of fabric and notions with lots of fun machine embroidery threads and designs too.  They have a lovely display set up for their row which features a bridge of local fame.  Now a walking path on what was once a trolley bridge, it was also featured in their 2014 row. It would be fun to go back and walk the actual bridge.  

The display included a map of the USA for visitors to pin where they are from as well as the license plates and other trinkets associated with the shop hop.  It would be fun to see this map when the shop hop ends as I am betting it will be full of pins from all over the country.  Stopping at this store with the friendly staff was a real pleasure as even the drive from the Interstate to the store was easy and restful.  A Notion to Quilt is not to be missed if you are row hopping this summer.

If you are planning your own shop hop this summer in search of rows, be sure to check out Facebook where you can view pictures of all the participating shop’s rows, as each state has their own dedicated page for sharing information about the shops and the rows.  (search state name + row by row)  If you are hopping in New England, let us know about any “not to be missed” shops.